Canadiens: A Real Team Effort

After Pierre Houde was honored for winning the Foster Hewitt Prize, the Montreal Canadiens got down to business with the Edmonton Oilers and that have nothing to be ashamed of.

After honoring Shea Weber on Saturday for his Hockey Hall of Fame induction, the Montreal Canadiens did the same tonight for the French play-by-play voice of the team, Pierre Houde. He has long been known as the best in the business in the province and his Foster Hewitt prize win was truly deserved. 

The Bell Centre faithful gave him quite the ovation and brought him close to tears. A very touching moment, not only for the man himself but also for those who became Habs fans watching him on RDS.

After such a good start to proceedings, the puck dropped and the Montreal crowd was able to marvel at the talent of the Edmonton Oilers two-headed monster of Connor Mc David and Leon Draisaitl. Both showcased some tremendous moves, but the Canadiens hung in there and the score was still 0-0 after 20 minutes. 

There were three penalties called in the first and some 4-on-4 play as well, but both goaltenders stood tall. Samuel Montembeault might have give up a goal but benefited from a quick whistle. 

The Habs played a tough period, dishing out 10 hits, including a couple of bone crushing ones from Emil Heineman. During a delayed penalty as the Oilers controlled the puck 6-on-5, Kaiden Guhle blocked a shot and headed straight for the dressing room when the play was blown dead. He was right back on the bench at the start of the second frame, a very welcome sight indeed for Martin St-Louis. 

Speaking of Heineman, he was very impressive tonight, he finished his game five hits and the way he goes all in on them means they hurt when they land. I'm not convinced he thought his chair with this team would be on the fourth-line, but for now at least, he's embracing the role and playing the game that's in front of him. All game long, the bottom line was impressive. 

Full marks for Lane Hutson in that first frame as well, he hung in there with Leon Draisaitl and killed a scoring chance when the teams skated four-on-four with a great sense of anticipation. Every time the youngster touches the puck, the Bell Centre vibrates, I don't think this building has ever been more ready for a first-career goal. 

Montreal spent much of the second frame defending, at times it looked like a flashback to Rocky IV. The Oilers being Drago and the Habs being Rocky, taking the punches, bending but not braking and then, with just over 30 seconds to go, Brendan Gallagher expertly deflected a Mike Matheson shot past Calvin Pickard to put the Canadiens ahead 1-0 somehow. 

It was Gallagher's eight tally on the season, the 226th of his career which made him level with Max Pacioretty as the 18th best goal scorer in franchise history. 

After 40 minutes, Edmonton was ahead 21-14 shots wise, but still hadn't managed to solve Montembeault. While they hadn't shot that much, they did have some quality chances which the Becancour native all turned aside, but mainly, there weren't that many high danger shots. He did spill a couple of rebounds, but his defensemen were quick to recover them.

The final frame belonged to the Canadiens. While the Oilers did keep trying, it felt like Gallagher’s late goal had taken the wind out of their sails. Montreal's confidence kept on growing as the game went on and in the third, it showed in all three zones. After leaving the game in the first and coming back to start the second Guhle had a great final 40 minutes, he ended his night with two blocks, but four shots on goal and of course, the second goal of the game. 

With just under five minutes to go and down 2-0, Edmonton pulled its goaltender but it was too little too late and it only allowed Jake Evans to score an insurance marker, making the score 3-0. 

Commenting his team's performance St-Louis explained:

 We're doing a very good job of managing our risk and to me, that's a big part of the actions that don't help the other team, especially against a team like tonight. They're just waiting for you to try a "maybe this might work" and they just live on maybes...I felt tonight we had a lot of 100% plays, we managed our risk really well.

This is Montembeault's second shutout on the year, the first one came against the Toronto Maple Leafs and was much more of a solo effort. Tonight, he was good, but his team pulled in the same direction as he did. Tonight, McDavid only managed one shot on goal while Draisaitl only got two, talk about playing a good defensive game.  Still, this will give the netminder a big boost of confidence. 

Montreal now has four days without a game and while some may fear they'll lose the positive momentum they've built up, the bench boss doesn't agree. For St-Louis, his men have been very good at staying "business-like" not getting too high and not getting too low, just focusing on being the best version of themselves each and every day, days off or not. 

We'll see on Saturday if the coach has sized up his team well. With the Vegas Golden Knights in town, Montreal will try to win a third game in a row for the first time this season. Tomorrow, the team has a well deserved day off but they'll be back in Brossard on Wednesday to get ready for the next game.